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Monday, June 13, 2011

A Spy in our revolution

Egypt has officially announced that it arrested an Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel on suspicion of spying and trying to recruit Egyptians in Cairo. The supreme security prosecution ordered his detention 15 days pending investigation. He was arrested today at a 3 stars hotel by the intelligence officers and the attendance of security prosecutor in accordance with the legal procedures.

Grapel on the left

He is the first Israeli to be arrested in Egypt on suspicion of espionage from 50 years , Azzam Azzam is from Druze origin.
According to the early statements in the Egyptian media Grapel is an officer in the Israeli Mossad who came to Egypt during the revolution as a journalist and went to Tahrir square. Grapel is accused of spying and also trying to recruit Egyptian revolutionary youth. He is also accused of trying to rift the relation between the revolutionaries and the army. He came to Egypt 4 or 5 time. Now according to some source the revolutionary youth reported him to the Egyptian intelligence while to other sources the intelligence spots him for a while and his case was already known to SCAF and was reflected in one of its statements. “As a warning from foreign conspiracies and infiltrators” He was lately spotted at the incident of Al Azbakia where he was filmed there.”Allegedly by the GIS” Al Masry Al Youm published that clip showing him at Al Azbakia. He was also spotted at Imbaba during the sorrowful sectarian events that took place there. Al Masry Al Youm also published a collection of his photos in Egypt and also in Israel , during his army service.

Al Masry Al Youm : An Israeli spy in Cairo’s street

According to the Egyptian official statements Grapel used to be an officer in the IDF and was injured during Lebanon 2006 war. He spoke Arabic in a Shami dialect. We do not know from where these photos were come , it is not from his Facebook profile based on the privacy setting but these photos could have been in his laptop which was confiscated according to the official statements.
Already based on the signs hanged at Tahrir square , I will these photos were taken on last May 27.

Ilan at Tahrir on May 27

Check that sign about Obama and the picture below. It was right after Obama's speech.

Grapel holding the anti Obama sign
Check the links above

During the war

Now this is what was published in our media and what we know about him. There is more online about Ilan Grapel , the veteran IDF soldier wounded in Lebanon 2006 war and the graduate of John Hopkins. In 2006 Grapel was featured in NY Daily News , Washington Post and also in Haaretz as the 23 years old Grapel from Queens,N.Y who were among the Israeli soldiers wounded in Lebanon war.
The young man from Bronx joined Hasbara and learned Arabic to defend Israel in anti-Israeli environment. Here is a screen cap about the Israel project’s media fellowship in Summer 2008 slideshow.

From the slide show of The Israel project in
2008

Top young Israeli leaders from future leaders, upper class and journalists were taught in Israel and States how to promote for Israel against Iran in The Israel project. In 2009 he was working as analyst and author for the Australia/Israel& Jewish affairs council “AIJAC” and he wrote this article in “The Australian” attacking the Green left weekly for standing with Palestinian cause and accusing it of supporting terrorism. Green Left weekly had to defend itself of course in front of that attack. During July 2009 he opened a twitter account that he only used it twice to speak about his attack on the green left.
Based on these facts Grapel is an Israeli/American , I do not know if the American embassy will interfere or not.
In his own Facebook profile , Grapel claims that he preaches in Al Ahzar . Allegedly he claimed that he converted to Islam.There were photos for him in Al Azhar. It is claimed that he tried to penetrate the Muslim brotherhood.
He got 537 friends and because of curiosity I just looked through his friend list and found that interesting Arabic name “The Searcher for truth”. That friend whose profile is private , posted a question privately about learning the Islamic Sharia through “Paltalk”. When someone mentions the word “Paltalk” and religion in one sentence I reach for my gun immediately. This is a trivial side mark.
Needless to say the media coverage and the language of the statements issued in the Egyptian press are not helping the trust issue in Egypt especially between young skeptic generations online. This case comes after the case of the Iranian diplomat accused of spying who was deported on the same plane of the public diplomacy delegation heading to Tehran. It also comes after the return of Egyptian gas to Israel. There is no doubt that this case can affect foreign journalists badly in Egypt again considering the fact Grapel is a journalist and according to reports Grapel is not alone and he got a ring of reporters in Alexandria and Cairo.
Personally I am not be surprised to know there are spies from country x or Y or Z in Egypt knowing the fact that the fall of Mubarak was like an earthquake in the region , I will not be surprised at all. We will be fooling ourselves if we think otherwise. This is one point.
Another point which unfortunately we are not paying attention this is the second Hasabra Orphan to visit Tahrir square after Bernard Henri Levy !! I do not know if our revolutionaries are paying attention to the fact that BHL's photos were used to stain both the Egyptian and Libyan revolution especially by Mubarak orphans.
Of course some of our tweep revolutionaries are turning it in to a comedy in a way that amazed me as a person , it seems that they hate to think even in the possibility that there could be spies among us like any other county as if Egypt is not that important and what happened was nothing in strategic terms. Our revolutionary tweeps ignore the fact that this incident could harm Tahrir square as well as they hate to admit that this incident will raise from the stake of SCAF and GIS high in the street. "Ironically people are saying that Police should learn from GIS"
I hate to say it but there is difference between opposing SCAF for political reasons and acting in this way which I can't find a word to describe it.
Anyhow I think we should stop exporting gas to Israel if Ilan is convicted. If Ilan is found guilty , he will be imprisoned in Egypt "at Tora land" till he is extradited in some sort of deal. "Usually in return of Egyptians"
The Israeli embassy was informed by the case and is required to provide its citizen with a lawyer. The last time the Israeli embassy hired a lawyer to defend one of its citizens accused of espionage , it hired none other Farid El-Deeb , Hosni Mubarak’s lawyer.
The most famous and earliest espionage and terrorism cases in Egypt was the Lavon affair which took place in 1954 where the Israeli Mossad bombed Western and American targets in Egypt to create instability in country from one side and to create a crisis between the Free officers government and the west from another side.
Tonight all talk shows dedicated a segment for the 4th alleged spy to be arrested after the revolution. According to Lt.General Hassan El-Rawany of the centralized zone in Cairo Today show the spy’s mission was to create a rift between the army and the people. Hala Sarhan reminded us that Israel won’t leave us alone while Reem Maged stated that the intelligence , the army and the people are one hand. “The police is out of the equation as usual”
National security expert and former intelligence officer Sameh Seif El-Yazal promised Mona El Shazly on Dream TV 2 that he would send to the show tomorrow a photocopy from Grapel’s Israeli passport as he got it a copy from GIS. He ended his talk in the segment about the alleged spy saying that that we should expect more good news soon.
I think all Egyptians need more good news soon for real.

21 comments
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I do share your surprise about the reactions of our tweeps here. What's so inconceivable about the hateful Mossad sending a spy to Egypt. They would have been stupid not to. From where do they expect spies to come over if not from Israel?

Israel has and still recruits Egyptians to spy for them and does not send idiots who expose themselves openly as Grapel.This is another red herring from those who use the same old and tired excuses to lay blame on 'external factors' to try and manipulate the masses.

Why would an Israeli spy be carrying an Israeli passport and use his real name when anyone can google him and find out that he worked in the Israeli military? Do you have any idea how idiotic that is? Look at the spies Israel sent to Dubai - they carried other country's passports, used fake named, and spoke many languages in many dialects. That is how all spies operate. There's no way that an Israeli spy would ever say that he's an Israeli or that he worked in the IDF. He would pretend to be from another country and have a fake name and life story. This is just an idiotic distraction to prevent people from focusing in the current situation in Egypt.

Why would an Israeli spy be carrying an Israeli passport and use his real name when anyone can google him and find out that he worked in the Israeli military? Do you have any idea how idiotic that is? Look at the spies Israel sent to Dubai - they carried other countries' passports, used fake names, and spoke many languages in many dialects. That is how all spies operate. There's no way that an Israeli spy would ever say that he's an Israeli or that he worked in the IDF. He would pretend to be from another country and have a fake name and life story. This is just an idiotic distraction to prevent people from focusing in the current situation in Egypt.

Wow, this guy seems to have a pretty public profile, for a "spy". That's weird, isn't it? Unless he's one of those "James Bond" type of spies, you know - shows his face everywhere, even gives his real name to everyone he meets - and yet still somehow manages to remain "covert". Alternatively, uhm...maybe he's NOT a spy, but just a guy doing incredibly stupid things? I guess the third option is that he's more like Austin Powers, which is sort of a combination of the "James Bond" and "guy doing stupid things" theories, if you think about it. There you go, the Egyptions have arrested the Israeli Austin Powers! That also fits perfectly with the theory that came out a few months ago, that Israel was sending killer sharks on Egyptian shores (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Sharm_el-Sheikh_shark_attacks#Israel_conspiracy_theory). The sharks had lasers on their heads. No, really, they did.Also, one thing I don't get is: I thought the Egyption revolution was a good thing? If this guy contributed to dissent against the authorities, isn't he helping the cause of the Egyption people? You should be praising him, not arresting him!Seriously though, if the Arab Spring is to create any positive, meaningful outcome for Egyptians and the entire region, perhaps greater focus and emphasis should be placed on fixing real social wrongs and fostering true tolerance among nations, and less on blaming Israel when something goes wrong.

What a totaly nonsense of an article??? Out of what you write it seems like he is a man, that was talking to much, drawing to much attention... and on the other side, Egyptian searching for a reason to blame him.

If he was a spy, he would have stayed away from attention. As a journalist, it definently makes sense to move around in the areas where the revolution took place and trying to get in contact with leaders and groups conected with the revolution. This article says alot more about egyptians and arabs, than about Israel.

That is a cool dude: a spy with a Facebook profile and probably the coolest spy ever since he uploads pictures of himself protesting in Tahrir square in on his FB page :-) I scouted the Egyptian print press and the allegations state that "he encouraged demonstrators to engage in violence against the military" but it seems to me that if he did commit these acts then he would be acting in the exact opposite of Israeli interests which would have been to support the old Egyptian regime. After all, no other nation was sadder than Israel after the overthrow of Mubarak.

Bull-fucking-shit!! I don't believe any of this. His story just doesn't add up, so he was recruited to forge a divide between the army and the people and he was responsible for the Imbaba incidents AND Al Azbakia thing? Wow! that's one busy spy. Are you shitting me?I bet he's the one that's been hijacking the elusive "wheel of production" that we can't seem to find.He's merely a scapegoat for the SCAF incompetence. This is really embarrassing how Egypt is dealing with this, is seems nothing has really changed.

But I'm sure Egyptians will rest easy tonight because sectarian tension doesn't exist in Egypt NO! it was just a Zionist ploy.

Based on his amateurish behavior, I doubt he is a professional spy. He sounds more like a typical American zionist moron trying to do his little bit, on his own initiative, to "help Israel", while at the same time believing that his American passport and that pretending to be a journalist would suffice as "cover".

As we saw in Dubai, the Mossad aren't exactly geniuses, but this guy is obviously more of a "wannabe" than an "is". I've met a few like that over the years, including one who came to Egypt to study Arabic at the AUC and get to know "the Enemy" before formally beginning his zionist career (promoting investments in Israel, trying to covertly buy up land in Sinai, etc.) Maybe he thought he could impress the Mossad by presenting them with all the 'intelligence' he was able to gather "behind enemy lines", or by engaging in a little subversion.

The Mossad deliberately cultivates a very glamorous image among Jewish young people, especially in the US and a lot of naive or brainwashed idiots fantasize about joining it. Some even boast about being in the Mossad to impress their friends. This guy probably just took it one step further.

Just before the curfew is lifted, the anti-strike law gets adopted and a spy gets caught strolling around Tahrir. Nice try but it does raise concerns about the generals' intelligence. I am quite worried about those wise elders who rule our army, if we ever face a war we will certainly be doomed but what's new?

I am quite disappointed by the tone of this Blog. Rant and Screed should be below you. Facts are more useful.

As a member of the Jewish faith, but AMERICAN,I am concerned you lack basic knowledge that "Jews in the Diaspora" do NOT share Israel's paranoia. Nobody could share Egypt's, nor its proclivity for crazy, magnoon, meshuguna conspiracy theories.

I have no problem believing this clown is Mossad, I was in Tel Aviv the night Rabin was murdered, not by Arab, but Wackjob Israeli motivated by Mossad.

I came to Egypt 15-20 times, had an apartment in Tahrir Square. Was I a spy too?

You were very poorly educated I fear, under the weight of Mubarak's Dictatorship and spent more time in anger at perceived enemies outside, than the real enemy within, TANTOWI, the Puppet Master.

You do not need Israeli's to screw you up, you are doing great all by yourselves.

Now both my Webmasters have escaped with their families to the USA, Insha'Allah.

Over the last 14 years, since 1997, my first visit, when I fell in LOVE with the people, the Nile, the late night clean air (12-6am), evenings at the Blue Nile, walking the streets 3am or 2pm, without fear,giving away THOUSANDS of Pounds LE (SECRETLY until now,)to the starving and homeless on the streets from Ismalya to Skandria to Tahrir and poor Farmers in between.

I gave $ to Palestinian causes, risking accusations back here in our own Police State.

I stayed in the suites and walked the streets.A cop saw me giving away money, called me into his station to talk, near the Israeli Embassy.

"You're the guy going around giving away money to the poor?", he asked. "Officers are talking on their radios""Come in here" he urged. "Sit down my friend""Why you don't you give to the Police, you think we are rich, we are poor too?"

I said "I was looking for homeless & hungry". He laughed, the other Officers joined in.

"I was just joking, Man. I do not want your money & it would be illegal, called Bagshish, like you say Bribe." He smiled. "I just did not want you walking around the gate barrier there (he pointed) that is the Israeli Embassy, they'd shoot you", he joked.

"Oh, I did not know what that barrier was, there is a women sleeping on their steps".

"Yes" he agreed, "she is their quite often" ..then "OK go and come back, we will watch"I gave her a five or ten pound note and went back down to the station, (down from Sheraton Opera)."As I told you", he continued,"our pay is nothing, but each day we get a Cigarette and Tea". (I never confirmed this).

"Please sit down. Today you will smoke my cigarette and you will drink my Tea". He could not see me cry. I have never stopped.

When I walked during the day, under the bridge, near the Cairo Marriott on the dirty filthy street sat a women covered in Hijab with old, dry dirty Pita bread, maybe 8 pieces on a metal rack, sitting on the street (no traffic goes here). She was ignoring a boy waving something. She kept looking the other way. He kept doing the Egyptian thing with his right hand, trying to push money at her.FINALLY, she goes through all eight pieces feeling for the one most stale, and throws it at the boy...he gives her FIVE Piestra (one US Penny-nothing).

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